Wis. election-date flap a 'mistake'?

The conservative third-party group Americans for Prosperity said absentee ballot applications sent to Wisconsin voters this weekend with the wrong election date were the result of a “printing mistake.”

“The date on the ballot application was meant solely for the elections held on Aug. 16. Due to a mistake during printing, all applications were sent out with the Aug. 11 date,” said AFP-Wisconsin state Director Matt Seaholm. “Americans for Prosperity-Wisconsin did not intend to print the incorrect absentee deadline or confuse voters in any way.”

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The fliers from the advocacy group informed voters they should return ballots to their city clerk before Aug. 11 — even though the next election day is Aug. 9. The upcoming recall elections of six Republican state senators could flip control of the state Senate, as Republicans currently hold just a 19-14 majority in the chamber.

Republicans and Democrats have spent about $4.2 million on the contentious Aug. 9 recall elections, according to the AP — and almost half the money has been doled out in the past three weeks. Republicans brought in $3.1 million to the Democrats’ $2.1 million in the first seven months of this year, but Democrats outspent Republicans in July, dropping more than $1 million into the race as Republicans shelled out $885,000.

The Wisconsin Democratic Party has already filed a formal complaint with the state’s Government Accountability Board over the misdated absentee ballots. The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee is also calling for an investigation.

Seaholm said AFP-Wisconsin is addressing the mistake by sending out a call “to each and every individual on the mailing list to clarify the date of the elections.”

The state’s GAB is recommending that voters who want to cast absentee ballots go to their local election official instead of relying on mailings.

Wisconsin will hold another recall vote following the Aug. 9 elections — with two incumbent Democrats on the ballot — on Aug. 16.